Welcome to the Mears Garden Blog, 2017-18.
Our garden is in Iowa City, Iowa, in zone 5. During the winter we have a picture contest. The contests started in 2006, and missed one year. It gets us through the winter. Voting takes place during the week. After 13 weeks there are playoffs between the winners.
You can look back on previous contests in the archive.
For the rest of the year I post garden news when time and inspiration line up.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Mears Garden news- - June 27, 2010- Summer week 1

FORMAT ALERT-BLOGGER HAS CHANGED THE WAY THAT YOU EDIT THE PAGE AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO CHANGE THE POLL YET-I AM WORKING ON IT

GreetingsIf there is a busier time of the year in the garden than right now, I do not know when it would be.The daylilies, maybe two weeks earlier than usual are peaking. The lilium (the Oriental lilies, Trumpet lilies, and all their combinations) are also going strong. The hosta continue to grow, creating wonderful vistas from the second floor windows. It is time to splash color around, planting the last caladium along with the sale flats of impatiens from the farmer’s market.

Did I mention weeds? I guess I was trying to stay positive. Let’s just say I am supplying much raw material to the city landfill’s compost program. I give them large trashcans filled with yard waste each week and they give me wonderful compost (if I go pick it up and it is available). I am even beginning to think of this as specialization of labor. They can do compost much better than I can.

So I do have good pictures for you this week. I am grouping them, as there were so many good pictures.

First there is this duo of the lilium Triumphator.

Then there are several daylilies.

Here are several Japanese iris.

Finally there is this red orchid cactus. It needs no companion.Did I mention rain? We are now up to 11.45 inches of rain for the month of June. It is raining so much that several weekend days I just have not been able to go outside. This puts a big crimp into the maintenance timetable.

I should also say something about hosta. I think my enthusiasm for hosta has been rekindled this year. I am not sure why. Maybe it is because I have become quite brutal. If a hosta does not stay interesting as time goes on, I am quite willing to send it to the city to become compost. So I am trying to spread them out, to keep them from clumping right up against one another. That sort of works. There are still areas that will require another season for that to be fully accomplished.But the bloom goes on. It really is glorious. And this week promises to have some cooler dryer weather so we can enjoy it.It has been nice not to have to think about watering anything.

I close with this picture of a new iris in the garden this year. Actually it has been here for 4-5 years. It just never bloomed before. It is a spuria iris. It finally got enough sun.